Thread-guide for ball-winders



H. A( D-ENMIRE. THREAD GUIDE FOR BALL WINDERS.

PatentedSept. 20

ww ,u m @H UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE. v`

HAROLD A.k DENMIRE, 0F AKRON, OHIO, lASSIG'NOR TO THE B. F. GOODRICI-I COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

THREAD-GUIDE FOR BALL-WINDERS.

Application filed November A. DENMIRE,

Auseful Thread-Guide` for`Ball-Winders, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to winding or wrapping machines, and more especially machines for forming thecenters of golf balls with rubber thread orltape. My object is to provide an'improved thread-guiding and tensioning'v means which will reduce the amount of breakage of the thread in passing from the spool to the ball. It has heretofore been a common practice in machines of this type to lead the rubber thread from the spool directly over the tension roller, which can be a grooved rollervprovided with a brake and rotating in a plane at right-angles to the plane of rotation ofthe spool upon its own axis,` ybut is more'commonly an elongated roller parallel to the spool, over which the thread shifts in assuming various angles ac cordingto the place on the spool from which it is unwinding. The breakage, which has been observed to be due to a kinking of the rubber thread` or tape or an uneven tension thereon in certain rotative positions of the winding Aring which carries the spool 1s largely overcome by means of the expedient hereinafter described.

Off the/accompanyin drawings,

Figurey 1 is a front e evation showing the principal working parts of a ball-winding machine provided with my improvement.

Fig. 2\is a section on the l1ne2-2,of

-Fi l.

eferring to the drawings, 10 is the base of the machine on which is mounted a circu- 'lar track 11 supporting the ringwinder 12 which rotates on a ball-bearing 13, the Winder having gear teeth 14 formed on its periphery whereby it is driven from a driving gear 15. 16 is the spool or reel having a suitable retarding brake 17, and 18 is the narrow rubber tape unwound therefrom, which, for present purposes, may be termed the thread The spool shaft is mounted in bearing brackets 19 on one side of the Winder ring and these arts are counter-balanced by a weight 20a xed to said ring at an opposite point on the circumference thereof. On the bar 21 on \said ring are mounted the several guide rollers, ,aswell as the slotted atl Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept 20, 19.21.

21, 191s. serial No. 263,507.

parting thereto an intermittent rotary motion to turn the ball on a horizontal axis, and are mounted in bearings -on a pair of heads 25 reciprocated horizontally in opposite directions to rotate the ball on a vertical axis.

26 is a tension roller fixed toa shaft 2T whose axis is parallel to that of the thread s pool 16, this shaft having one hearing in `an arm 28 on the bar 21 and another bean ing in one of the brackets 19, the shaft 27 having Va friction plate or brake 29 provided with a spring adjustment 30 whereby a variabledrag-is imposed upon the tension roller.` Heretofore, the thread has passed directly from the spool 16 to a tension roller on the same side of the Winder ring, and said roller has commonly been located as shown in my drawings but made of elongated form to permit the travel thereover of the thread in different angular positions assumed by the latter. This arrangement resulted in the lkinking and breakage of the rubber thread heretofore mentioned. According to the herein-described preferred embodiment of my invention which allows the improvement to be readily 'adapted to'existing machines, I introduce an idle roller31 .for guiding the thread between the spool 16'and the tension roller 26, and preferably locate it to one side of said spool and tension roller, on the opposite side of the middle plane of the ring 12 from the side on which those members are mounted. This idle roller islocated nearly on adiametric plane bisecting the spool 16 and rotates in av plane at right-angles to the plane of rotation of the spool on the latters own axis. so that as the thread changes its angle in feeding fromsaid spool to the roller 31 it .merely wraps more or less around said roller, and does not affect the angular direction of the partof said thread leading from the roller 31 to the tension roller 26. Thus the tension remains substantially uniform at all times, and the thread or tape has much less tendency to kink and break than heretofore. From the'tension roller 26 the thread 18 passes to the needle 22 over a. loosely journal guide roller 32 mounted on the bar 21 for bringing said thread substancauses the thread to take substantially al half-turn around the tension roller 26, and thus obtain sufcient frictional hold to rotate the latter against the resistance of its brake 29.

lVhile the foregoing is a suitable embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the latter is not Wholly'limited to the specific number and arrangement of the members in the series of thread-guiding and tensioning rollers here shown.

I claim:

1.In a machine for Winding elastic rubber thread into a ball, the combination of a ,holder having means for turning t'he ball on different axes to give a Spherical Winding, a rotary ring Winder carrying an elonon the opposite side of the Winding plane and rotating on an axis transverse to that of the spool, for receiving theV thread from' said spool, and means on said Winder for guiding the thread from said ,roller onto the ball. 3. In a machine for Winding elastic rubber thread into a ball, the combination of a holder having means for turning the ball on different axes to give a spherical Winding, a ring Winder mounted to revolveabout said holder and carrying an elongated thread spool, a parallel tension roller provided With a brake, lan intermediate thread-guiding -roller mounted to rotate on anaxis transverse to the axes of said spool andtension roller, and means for guiding the thread from said tension rolleronto the ball.

t 4. In a machine for Winding rubber gated thread spool, a guide roller on said thread on a ball, the combination of a ball- Winder mounted to rotate on an axis transverse to the axis ofthe spool and so positioned as to receive the thread from said spool approximately at right angles to the axis of said guide. roller, but from various directions, and turn its course in a substan' tialy fixed direction through less than a lcomplete turn, and means on said Winder for guiding the thread from said roller onto the ball.

2. In a machine for Winding elastic rubber thread into a ball, `the combination of a 'holder having means for turning the ball on different axes to give a spherical Winding, a

ring Winder mounted to revolve about said iholder, an elongated thread spool mounted on saidWinder on one side of the Winding plane, a gulde roller mounted on said Winder turning holder, a ring Winder adapted to revolve about said holder, a thread 'spool and a thread tension roller mounted I'on said Winder at one side of its middle plane and adapted to rotate on substantially parallel axes, an intermediate thread-guiding roller mounted on the opposite side of Said plane and adapted to rotate on an axis transverse tothe axes of the spool and tension roller, a needle for guiding the thread onto the ball, and a roller mounted on said ring Winder substantially at the winding plane for` guiding the thread from said intermediate roller to said needle.

In testimony vvhereof I have hereunto set my hand`this nineteenth day of' November,

HARQLD A. DENMIRE. 

